8th June 2005 - Board Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service held on Wednesday 8th June, 2005 at 2.00 p.m. in the Boardroom, National Blood Centre, Jamess Street, Dublin 8
Present: Ms. Maura McGrath (Chairperson)
Dr. Liz Keane
Ms. Valerie Mannix
Dr. Mary Cahill
Mr. David Lowe
Ms. Jane OBrien
Mr. David Keenan
Mr. Tony McNamara
Mr. Sean Wyse
Apologies: Dr. Mary Horgan
Dr. Cees Van Der Poel
In Attendance: Mr. Andrew Kelly (CE)
Dr. William Murphy (NMD)
Mr. Michael Healy (SEO)
1. Minutes of Meeting 11.05.2005
The minutes of the Board meeting held on Wednesday, 11th May 2005, were adopted on the proposal of Dr. L. Keane, seconded by Ms. J. OBrien and signed by the Chairperson subject to agreed amendments.
2. Matters arising
The IBTS Chairperson and Chief Executive will be meeting with representatives of Transfusion Positive and Positive Action on June 28th 2005.
It is expected that a meeting will be organised with Dept of Health & Children officials regarding the forthcoming EU Tissue Directive.
Mr. T. McNamara joined the meeting at this stage
3. Correspondence
It is expected that the meeting with the Tánaiste on June 27th will last for approximately one and a half hours. The Board discussed possible agenda items for the meeting. The Tánaiste will be invited on a short tour of the NBC particularly the Apheresis Clinic.
Among the agenda items suggested for the meeting were, the relationship with the HSE and Capital Funding for the Cork Centre. It was agreed that the Tánaiste would be asked to encourage people to donate blood especially during the lean summer months.
4. Kubanek Report
The 15th of June 2005 is the deadline for the receipt of tenders from the companies that will carry out a review of management structures in light of the Kubanek report.
Mr. D. Keenan joined the meeting at this stage
6. Chief Executives Report
The report was noted.
The request that hospitals should defer elective surgery for 4/5 working days due to the low blood supply, was discussed at length. It was understood that intensive advertising to promote blood donations is being conducted at present. It was felt that greater awareness in the efficient use of blood needs to be promoted in hospitals. There was some concern that this measure was being taken before a national appeal had been made. The NMD explained to the Board that the situation was serious at present and that this step would need to be taken to preserve the blood supply into the Summer period. Although there was an underlying problem of ever increasing demands on the blood supply, there was a need to deal with an acute shortage now, so as to be able to cope with any possible emergencies. The CE stated that a national appeal can be counter productive as it gets an enormous response for a short time with long queues, delays and complaints from donors. There is always a strong possibility that a shortage could re-occur within a very short time. After some deliberation it was agreed that a statement would be issued by the Chair and a call for donations.
5. Quality Management System and the EU Directive
Ms M OConnell National Quality Assurance Manager gave a presentation to Board and circulated the paper The IBTS Quality Management System and the EC Blood Directive (2002/98/EC to Board members). The EU Directive is to become law on 9th November 2005. Ms. OConnell outlined the current system in the IBTS and the changes required so as to adhere to the forthcoming EU Directive. A question and answer period followed the presentation.
Ms. OConnell emphasised that the greatest threat to the Quality System was where there was a deliberate breach of the rules and that such a breach was a serious disciplinary matter and would be reported to the IMB. Adherence to QA is embedded in all IBTS employment contracts.
It was understood that the traceability of product and the remit of the IBTS Quality System did not extend to hospital blood banks.
The Chairperson thanked Ms. OConnell for her presentation and reiterated that all staff and sections of the organisation must adhere to the agreed Quality Management System. It was agreed that Ms OConnell would revert to the Board once the Directive has been enacted. It was suggested that the NQAM would give regular briefings to the Board throughout the year.
11. Day / Date of Future Meetings
The Board decided to hold the Board meetings on the Thursday instead of the Wednesday of the second week of the month.
The next scheduled meeting in July will take place on Thursday 14/07/2005.
It was agreed that the Board will hold a workshop on Saturday September 10th to examine governance issues, role and remit of committees and in this context the frequency and date of Board meetings will be reviewed. The September Board meeting has been moved to Thursday 15/9/2005.
10. Minutes of Finance Committee Meeting 2nd March 2005 & 1st June 2005
The minutes of 2/3/2005 were noted.
The minutes of 1/6/2005 were noted.
The CE briefed the Board on a meeting he had with the HSE in regard to clarifying the relationship of the with the HSE and how the IBTS can be informed of services/appointments that impact on availability of blood and blood products.
The introduction of Activity Based Budgeting is being implemented and the IBTS is actively seeking a software package to facilitate its introduction.
The IBTS insurers are investigating insurance cover for Directors and Officers and how this policy interacts with enterprise liability insurance for Medical Consultants.
Dr. L. Keane left the meeting at this stage.
Ms. V. Mannix, Chairperson Audit Committee, briefed the Board on the financial controls in place in the IBTS and how these controls were being updated and strengthened.
8. Cork Centre
The Chief Executive noted that a letter is expected in the coming weeks from the Department of Health & children regarding future capital investment in the Cork Centre.
9. MAC Meeting 6/4/2005
The minutes of the MAC meeting were noted. It was suggested that the Terms of Reference of the MAC could be reviewed and it was agreed that this would form part of the agenda for the Board workshop on Governance on September 10th 2005. The Chief Executive complimented Dr Murphy and his team for the vCJD Workshop which took place on Friday June 3rd 2005. Outcomes from this day will be brought to the MAC and Board.
Mr. T. McNamara left the meeting at this stage
7. Clinical Trials
The National Medical Director presented a short paper and briefed the Board on clinical trials that are to be conducted by the IBTS.
i) 7 day platelets
ii) Prion reduction Filters
iii) Single donor virus inactivated US Plasma
All of these trials require prior approval by the IMB, in addition to hospital ethics committee approvals.
12. A.O.B.
It was agreed the Finance Committee should analyse the IBTS Strategic Plan in terms of financial and other targets set and achieved.
It was also agreed that a half yearly report would be provided in regard to Health & Safety, number of incidents, safety management plan, current issues and so forth at the July 2005 Meeting.
The next meeting of the Board will take place at 2pm in the NBC on Thursday July 14th 2005.
Signed: . .. Date:
